Mahavier's sole planet, Tuskegee, is in the system's temperate zone and is very earth like. It's got ice caps, a slight bulge at its equator, and is even tiled on its axis so it has seasons.

What it doesn't seem to have is any kind of animal life larger than bacteria. There is some evidence that there was a large type of animal life, and even signs that it was sentient and had moved into the stone age level of technology. Stone arrowheads have been found. But they're not there anymore and it's not hard to guess why.

The plants killed them.

The plants are actively engaged in bio-warfare against their rivals. Not only are the plants highly poisonous, but the pollen they generate is equally, if not more poisonous. They actively fill the air with their pollen in an attempt to kill rivals for the best growing spots.

The Navy is trying to harvest some of the plant-life and pollen for use in its own bio-warfare projects, with limited success. While the poison is still toxic to Terrains, Kilrathi, and every other species they've tried it on (Nephilim have not been tested quite yet), it seems to require higher doses than it does on the native rival plants.

At least, the Navy was trying until recently. Since Chandley, research efforts have been scaled back. The remaining projects are run from Tzimitche Station, in orbit around Tuskegee, with a notably high number - possibly majority - of Kilrathi scientists from Collins. In general, it is a mostly ignored system. Its only other value would be as a route between Armstrong and Oldziey, but going through David is generally faster and more convenient.